Sunday, 11 March 2012

Working Dogs

It's Crufts Week and once again they roll out their weird classification system which doesn't really have any relevance today : Gundogs, Toy, Pastoral, Utility and (funniest of all) "working".

Gary Larson once drew a wonderful cartoon imagining "dogs going to work" and had them driving along in a car with their heads stuck out of the windows. Of course it was only a cartoon and could never happen in real life.

Our own lovely canines would never make it to Crufts but I've been trying to instigate a new system of "workfare" in order to get them used to the idea of working in return for their daily bread. Or Baker's Complete Shite. Or in Oz's case, low-fat healthy Chappie, the food that makes him happy.

Lily is an apprentice door-person and is being trained to stop any undesirables walking in. " 'alt oo goes ici?", she says but even undesirables can easily get past her if they tickle her tummy.

This is Ozwald in his new role as chair-warmer. It's not particularly useful but it does look rather cute and it's the nearest thing he'll do to "fetching".

We have only got a working cat now. She's got the chair warming completely under control. Also table warming and worktop warming. And clthes-left-lying-around warming.Oz obviously has more sense and Lily is just gorgeous.

Ann's father always told the story of his two Chesapeak Bay retrievers that he entered in the 1936 Crufts. They took first and second place in their class. He always ended the story by saying "Not only that. They were the only two Chesapeak Bay retrievers entered that year".

Ann's father always told the story of his two Chesapeak Bay retrievers that he entered in the 1936 Crufts. They took first and second place in their class. He always ended the story by saying "Not only that. They were the only two Chesapeak Bay retrievers entered that year".